How did the The Settlers of Catan In the novel, does the exchange of sheep for wheat lead to religious persecution, murder, child marriage, slavery and worse?
It’s not very often that the universe of board games is expanded through books, movies, TV shows, etc. Notice is probably the most notable exception. But when a game is as popular as The Settlers of Catanthen you should expect additional material. Nevertheless, I do not think that anyone is using the official The Settlers of Catan Roman similar to something like game of Thrones.
The Settlers of Catan Novel overview
The The Settlers of Catan The novel has 650 pages. Considering the source material, it is surprising that the author Rebecca Gable found anything to tell at all. Admittedly, if you read the summary of the plot, it becomes clear that it is just a historical novel with which Catan Label placed quite arbitrarily at the top.
The year is 850. In the seas of Northern Europe, the small coastal village of Elasund falls victim to marauding neighbors. Their food supplies are plundered, women and children stolen, and their livestock destroyed. The villagers struggle to survive the harsh winter – and consider a drastic solution to their recurring hardships: leaving the only village they have ever known.
Foster brothers Candamir and Osmund lead their people on an epic quest to a mythical island home, but without knowing exactly where the island lies, they must trust the gods to bring them there safely. Lost at sea and helpless, they are washed ashore by an exceptionally violent storm on the shores of the island of Catan, famous in pagan legend.
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Things are starting to get a little weird
OK, seems pretty simple. Maybe a bit of young adult fiction mixed in, but nothing too far-fetched. Plus, it seems like a good plot for settling on this new island. Makes a lot of sense so far. But what happens then?
They quickly set about building a new society, but old grudges, animosities and social orders lead to fraternal conflict. When the ideals of Candamir’s Christian slave spread throughout the village and come into conflict with pagan law, the two belief systems clash. Things come to a head when Osmund and Candamir fall in love with Siglind, the mysterious Queen of the Cold Isles.
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Oh. Hmm. What was that in the middle? “Christian slave”? What is this book about again?
Yes, it turns out that this novel has everything Varieties of themes that you really wouldn’t expect from a game about trading wheat for wood. It turns out that the book is full of religious themes, which would be fine on its own. But this is a book about The Settlers of Catan!
Oh, but it gets much worse.
I’m sorry, what?
Later in the story, Candamir’s 14-year-old brother Hacon loses his virginity to one of Candamir’s slaves. But when Hacon wakes up, he finds that his sheep have been eaten by wolves. He is punished with 60 lashes and is whipped almost to death. Fortunately, Candamir intervenes and takes half of the lashes for his brother.
If your first reaction is “WTF?!” then we have good news! You’re probably a pretty normal person. And the story just keeps getting more bizarre and crazy. There are moments of non-consensual sex, murder, brutal executions and suicide. In another novel, this would theoretically be fine. It’s not for me, but whatever. Although it’s possible to fit all of this into a novel with the The Settlers of Catan label is simply irresponsible. Nobody would expect such a story from a novel about Settlers of Catan.
If you browse through the German page of the Catan website, you will find designer Klaus Teuber’s thoughts on the novel.
In 1995, the game “The Settlers of Catan” (now: “Catan the Game”) was published by Kosmos Verlag. The CATAN world grew steadily and in 2003 Rebecca Gable – my favorite author of historical novels – wrote the story of the settlers in the book “The Settlers of Catan” based on my sketches. We agreed on a trilogy, but for various understandable reasons Ms. Gable ended her story with the first volume and unfortunately left the story of Catan unfinished. An unsatisfactory state of affairs, especially since representatives of the film industry were also increasingly expressing interest in a film adaptation. So in 2019 I decided to take up the pen myself.
Interview translated by Google
If you want to read this novel yourself, don’t let me dissuade you. You just have to know what you’re getting into. I can only hope that your exploration of Catan goes much better than Candamir’s.
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Matt has always loved games of all kinds: board games, video games, war games, role-playing games. He has been working as a writer for BoLS since 2017. He has worked as a freelance editor for board game rule books and has also designed many of his own games.
